Photos: ALMOST QUINTET TRIO Performs Born Free By Dr. Edward W. Hardy In New York City
Their next performance will take place on Sunday, August 30.
The Almost Quintet Trio brought BORN FREE, a song cycle by composer and violinist Dr. Edward W. Hardy, back to New York City on August 15 for an encore performance at Grace and St. Paul's Church. The performance was part of the ensemble's LOVE, EARTH, DEATH concert tour, celebrating the music of Black and Chinese composers, and featured Dr. Zhengyingue 'Elaine' Huang (soprano), Dr. Peiyao Yu (piano), and Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh (violin).
Originally commissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, BORN FREE sets poetry by Margaret Walker and features four movements: 'Sorrow Home,' 'Lineage,' 'The Struggle Staggers Us,' and 'Southern Song.'
New York Concert Review praised BORN FREE as 'the work of a promising and talented composer,' highlighting its blues influences, emotional intensity, plaintive despair, and 'stately dignity of voice and purpose.' The work was presented alongside music by composers including Dorothy Rudd Moore, Bright Sheng, Qingjia Lin, Rama Liu, Yi Zhou, and He Zhanhao and Chen Gang.
The Almost Quintet Trio will next perform the Los Angeles premiere of BORN FREE on Sunday, August 30, 2026, at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, California.
Photo Credit: Lia Chang
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang, Dr. Peiyao Yu, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Edward W. Hardy, and friends.
Lia Chang and Dr. Edward W. Hardy.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Love, Earth, Death Concert Program
Dr. Edward W. Hardy
Dr. Edward W. Hardy
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh and Dr. Peiyao Yu.
Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Peiyao Yu and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang, and Dr. Peiyao Yu.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Audience and Performers
Flowers for the Almost Quintet.
Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang, Dr. Peiyao Yu, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Edward W. Hardy, and friends.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy, Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Dr. Edward W. Hardy and Lia Chang.
Dr. Xenia Deviatkina-Loh, Dr. Peiyao Yu, and Dr. Zhengyingue Elaine Huang.
Photo Credit: Lia Chang
